In the manufacture of garments and more particularly trousers or the like, the most common method used is to provide separate fly pieces for attachment to the main garment panel. When forming the exposed portion of the fly structure this results in a double welt along the edge which provides substantial rigidity and reinforcement to the completed structure.
The usual method of accomplishing this structure is to first cut fly pieces from the supply of material then feed the fly pieces in conjunction with continuous length of a slide fastener tape to a sewing machine, severing the slide fastener tape between the flypieces, and then attaching an edge of the fly piece to the edge of the main garment in a predetermined position by feeding these parts to a separate sewing machine. In view of the number of parts involved this construction has not lent itself to mechanization in one machine. Further since various operators are involved in performing the same function, the consistency of structure and appearance orginating from a single manufacturer will vary depending upon the dexterity of such operators.
Previous modifications in the assembly of the fly structure including the use of a fly flap portion integral with the main garment panel have been tried. However, the feeding of the main panel in conjunction with the continous slide fastener tape and the severing of the tape between panels have presented problems. Therefore it has been necessary to perform these operations individually which requires a great deal of manual handling which is time consuming and expensive. Also the inconsistencies due to the skill of the various operators performing like functions still presents a problem for the manufacturer.
In the U.S. patent application Ser. No. 491,872 filed May 5, 1983 in the name of Donald Richardson there is disclosed a structure of and method of forming a completed fly structure in a garment wherein the fly flap portions are cut integral with the main panel. Further U.S. patent application Ser. No. 535,714 filed Sept. 26, 1983 in the name of Doucette ET AL shows a machine for folding and attaching the zipper to the integral fly flap on the covered half of the fly structure. The machine of the present invention folds the integral fly flap and attaches the zipper to the exposed half of the fly structure.